Machine for uniting knit fabrics.



C. K. POYNER.

MACHINE FOR UNITING KNIT FABRICS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-13.1915.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

"45 MORRIS P557585 :0. PNOYO-LITNO WASHING mu. 0. c.

C. K. POYNER. MACHINE FOR UNITING KNIT FABRICS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I3. I915- 1,203,404.

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Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

:eE-AnL-nsm. PoYnE'n; on- PADUCA H, KENTUCKY.

Madame FOR nnrrme IKN'IT FABRIGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Oct. 31, 1916.

Application-filed December 13;1915. "Seria1'NoQ66A76;

' To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES KJPOYNER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Paclucal1,'McGracken county, State of Kentucky, have invented an Improvement in liaohines for Uniting Knit Fabrics, of which the following description, in connection with the "accom p anying drawings, '18 a spec1'fication like letters on the drawings representing'like parts.

I My invention relates more particularly to machines for uniting'kn-it-fabrics, inwhich the "feeding action is continuous rather-- than intermittent.

An illustrative embodiment of my improved mechanism is 'shownin the drawings accompanying this-specification, in which,

Figu'rel is a front elevation of a mac'hine for sewing together theedges oflooped-fabrice with the looper-point dial and other portions of the machine broken away or omitted to show clearly my improved feeding mechanism; Fig. 2 is a detail viewilluscrating the preferred 'shapeiof cam foropcrating the "mechanism which moves the needle carrying arm in a lateralqdirection; Fig. '3 1s a =s1de elevatlon 'of 'a IIlEtChlIlG-CEOI sewing together the edges of looped fabrics, parts being broken away to show detailsof the dial actuating mechanism, and, Fig. kis a detail view illustrating the 1 adjustable rod guide formingapart of the dial actu'ating o-tally mounted on su1table lever arms, as 19.

mechanism.

It is' Well known that machinesforuniting knit "fabrics, in which the dial movement -is intermittent, present a serious difficulty to the operators in that the uneven:- movement interferesigreatly'with the positioningof the knitted fabric npon}the'- hopper'points of the dial. It is contemplated'that this difiiculty :may readily 'be "overcome 'by provi'ding a dial actuating mechanism w'hich will permit c0ntinuous' rotationof the dial. further improvement in this class of machines *isisuggested by the fact'thatthose commonly in use 'at the present 1 time are not rea-(lily adapted to'operate upon fabrics of diflerent 'meshgage or loops'ize. 'Ordinarily it is necessary to -provide a separate machine for each size of mesh. Thus, in a' factory where many gradations of knitted fa'brics running from fine to "coarse mesh'a-remade, a cor'r-esponding ly large #number of rnachlnes -W1 ll *bevrequired;

In view of the difiiciilties outlin'ed above -i reraev iee iththes peran neneaeaet ability l of such machines 110W in use, I have devised an improved dial actuating mecha- --msm which not only permits the, looper p'oint dial' tobe rotated continuously, but wh ch is'rea'dily adjustable to vary the-speed ofthe dial, so that, in a single-machine, dials of--d1iferent egage may be 1 interchangeable and adapted to-be actuatedby the sarne' drivmg 'mechanism.

I In the embodiment of myinvention illustI-ate'd in the drawings, a -loop'er point dial" 1 is mounted-upon a suitable frame in SllCl'l it V mannerthat it may rotate across the path "of a reciprocating needle 2. "In orderthat the rotation of the dial may be continuous,

"I provide suitable actuating means which include a mainpower' shaft?) having a series of cams 1 4, 5,6 and '7 -mounted-upon it, correSpondirigportions ofsaid cams being successively effective at intervals of substantially 90 in the rotation of said shaft. The

dial-'1 is provided with a'rack 8, 'wliich is adaptedto engagea pinion 9 fixed to a drive shaft 10. Rotation ofthis-shaft maybe effected by means of a-succession of ratchets 11,12, 13 and 14 which are mounted upon the shaft lO in stepped or off-set relation, the extent of the eff-set in the illustrated embodiment" being substantially one-quarter tooth Y in' each successive r'atc'het. j Paw-1s 15, 16, 17-' and 18= engage the=ratchets 11,-12,

13 -and 14 respectively, said pawls being piv- 'Reerring' -to Fig. 8, the operation'of-the pawl and ratchet mechanism be -moije clearly understood by explaininga typical illustrative arrangement, including the ratchet ll and the pawl 1-5 which 'is piv o-tally mounted on "a lever army19, "the latter being convenientlypivoted to the i framework "of the machine. Normal pawl actuating movement of the lever-arm -1-9 is accomplished by the alternate thrust and-pull of a rod -20 which engages the said-arm'piv- 'otally. The-came engages a wi er- 21 which communicates its reciprocatorymotion t'oa Where it is found I necessary fto alter "the machinein order to -ac'co m'modate vork of "a gj ff rentimesh gage tir omtsnat of the tabri previously sewed, the dial 1 may be removed and replaced by a similar dial of diiferent gage. Assuming that the new .dial is of a gage adapted to receive fabric of a coarser mesh than that accommodated by the previous dial 1, it is obvious that the new dial must be rotated at a greater speed than the previous smaller gage dial. The reason for this is that the period of reciprocation of the needle 2 is preferably constant, so that where the gage'is comparatively coarse, the rate of advance of the dial must be increased to conform to the period of reciprocation of the needle. In my improved driving mechanism, I provide for this adjustment of dial speed by arranging the pawl in such a manner that the length of its stroke my readily be changed to traverse a single tooth of the ratchet or several teeth as the size of the dial gage may require. This adjustment may conveniently be effected by changing the position of the rod with respect to the lever arm 19, a slot 23 extending longitudinally of the lever arm 19 being provided to permit the rod 20 to engage the arm 19 at different positions along the length of the latter, thus varying the extent of movement of the free end of the lever arm 19 and thereby of the pawl 15. The rod 20 is adapted to slide vertically in a rod guiding member 24, of which a top view is shown in detail in Fig. 1. This rod guiding member 24 is mounted to slide on suitable guide bars 25 which are rigidly supported by a fixed block 26. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4:, I have provided means for actuating the rod guiding member 2 1 and locking the same in any desired position, said means including a threaded rod 43 passing through block26 and engaging a nut 4.4 which cooperates with the block 26 to limit movement of guide member 24 inwardly. The screws 45, Fig. 1, threaded at the sides of block 26 may be adjusted to bear against the guide bars 25 when they occupy any desired position along the length of their respective grooves 27 in block 26. A compression spring 28 may conveniently be interposed between the pawl 15 and the lever arm 19 to press the pawl constantly in tooth engaging position with respect to the ratchet 11.

Inasmuch as the looper-point dial 1 rotates continuously, it is necessary that the needle 2 be given a lateral motion, following the motion of the dial, in addition to the usual radial motion required in forming the loop. The needle may conveniently be mounted on one arm 42 of a bell crank 41 journaled on a shaft 29, said arm 42 being adapted to receive reciprocatory motion in the direction of the radius of the dial by means of a rod 30 having a cam strap 31 at one end adapted to engage a cam 32 mounted on the main power shaft 3.. The

bell crank 41 is also slidable laterally upon the shaft 29. This lateral sliding of the bell crank may be effected including a cam 33 mounted on the shaft 3 and actuating a rod 34 which engages one end of a lever arm 35 fulcrumed at 36, the other end of the said lever arm engaging said bell crank 41. In order that the extent of lateral movement of the bell crank and the needle carrying arm 42 may be adjusted to conform to different dial gages, the thrust of the free end of the lever 35 may be increased or diminished by changing the position of the fulcrum 36 in relation to the free end of said arm. For this purpose, the

arm 35 is provided with a slot 37 to receive a lug 36 mounted upon a pin 38 which is adapted to slide up and down in a slotted support 39. The pin 38 may be fastened in 1 any desired position along the slot by suitable means, here illustrated as a wing nut 10 en a in a threaded ortion of said in.

b b b by suitable means Thus, when the dial rotates continuously,

the needle carrying arm receives a lateral.

thrust in the direction of motion of the dial while the loop connecting stitch is being formed. As soon as the needle is withdrawn after the formation of the stitch, the needle carrying arm is moved quickly in the opposite direction so that the needle may again engage the next loop to form the next stitch.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics, the combination of a looper-point dial, and means for rotating the same continuously, including a drive shaft having dial engaging means, a plurality of ratchets mounted on said shaft, and a plurality of pawls adapted to actuate said ratchets in overlap ping sequence to effect continuous rotation of said shaft.

2. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics,the combination of a looper-point dial, means for rotating the same continuously, including a drive shaft having a dial engaging pinion and a plurality of ratchets mounted on said shaft in relatively stepped position, a plurality of pawls adapted to engage the respective ratchets in overlapping sequence, means to actuate said pawls, and means to adjust the stroke of said pawls to vary the rotation speed of the dial.

3. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics, the combination of a looper-point dial, means for rotating the same continuously, including a drive shaft having a dial engaging pinion and mounted on said shaft in relatively stepped position, a plurality of pawls adapted to engage the respective ratchets in overlapping sequence,

paWls, and means for varying the rotation speed of the dial by varying the stroke of and means to actuate said a plurality of ratchets' arms and means for increasing and diminishing the thrust of said lever arms whereby the reach of the pawls may be varied.

4. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics, the combination of a looper-point dial, means for rotating the same continuously, including a drive shaft having a dial engaging pinion and a plurality of ratchets mounted on said shaft in relatively stepped position, a plurality of pawls adapted to engage the respective ratchets in overlapping sequence, and means to actuate said pawls including a main power shaft, cams on said shaft, pawl carrying lever arms each pivoted at one end and having a pawl at the other end, rods adapted to engage said pawl carrying arms, and means cooperating with the cams on the main power shaft to actuate the said rods.

5. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics, the combination of a looper-point dial, means for rotating the same continuously, including a drive shaft adapted to receive continuous motion of rotation, dial engaging means, a ratchet member operatively connected with said dial engaging means, a plurality of pawls mounted to engage said ratchet member in overlapping sequence, and means to actuate said pawls.

6. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics, the combination of a looper-point dial and dial rotating means including a plurality of connected ratchets, a plurality of pawls and means for operating said pawls to effect continuous rotation of said connected ratchets.

7. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics,the combination of a looper-point dial and dial rotating means including a plurality of con- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for nected ratchets' in relatively stepped rela tion and means to engage said ratchets suc-' cessively in overlapping sequence to effect continuous rotation thereof.

8. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics, the combination of a continuously rotatable looper-point dial, a shaft, adjustable means connected with said shaft for actuating said dial at different speeds without a change in the speed of said shaft, and means for looking said adjustable means in position to operate the dial continuously at the required speed.

9. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics, the combination of means for changeable looper-point dials adapted to accommodate fabrics of different mesh gages, thread needle supporting means having a fixed period of operation, and means cooperating with the dial rotating means for adjusting the speed of said interchangeable dials to conform eration of the thread needle.

10. In a machine for uniting knit fabrics, the combination of means for rotating interchangeable looper-point dials adapted to accommodate fabrics of different mesh gages, a thread needle having a fixed period of operation and adapted to cooperate with the looper-points on said dial in the formation of fabric uniting stitches, and means for adjusting the dial rotating means to synchronize the speed of different dials with the fixed period of rotation of the thread needle.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

C. K. POYNER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

rotating interto the fiXed period of op. 

